1995 Italian Grand Prix
10 September |officialname = LXVI Pioneer Gran Premio d'Italia |circuit = Autodromo Nazionale Monza |location = Monza, Lombardy, Italy |circuittype = Permanent racing facility |lapdistance = 5.770 |laps = 53 |distance = 305.810 |pole = David Coulthard |polenation = GBR |poleteam = |poletime = 1:24.462 |fastestlap = 1:26.419 |fastestlapdriver = Gerhard Berger |fastestlapnation = AUT |fastestlapteam = |fastestlapnumber = 24 |winner = Johnny Herbert |winnernation = GBR |winnerteam = |second = Mika Häkkinen |secondnation = FIN |secondteam = |third = Heinz-Harald Frentzen |thirdnation = GER |thirdteam = }} The 1995 Italian Grand Prix, otherwise known as the LXVI Pioneer Gran Premio d'Italia, was the twelfth round of the FIA Formula One World Championship, staged at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Monza, Italy, on the 10 September 1995.'Italian GP, 1995', grandprix.com, (Inside F1 Inc., 2014), https://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr576.html, (Accessed 10/08/2019) The race would see title protagonists Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher clash for the second race in succession, with various other incidents allowing Johnny Herbert to claim his second career victory. The weekend would start with a dominant display from David Coulthard, who swept to pole position for having recently been told he would be dropped for in favour of Jacques Villeneuve. Schumacher lined up in second ahead of the first of Berger, while Hill claimed fourth after an engine failure. There would, however, be confusion when it came to start the race, with Coulthard spinning on the formation lap at Ascari, before heading into the pits having recovered. Schumacher hence sprinted away to claim an early lead when the lights went out, only for the race to be almost instantly halted by a red flag. The cause was a huge accident in the midfield heading out of Ascari, with Max Papis spinning on the gravel kicked up by Coulthard, before being collected by a spinning Andrea Montermini. Roberto Moreno and Pedro Lamy were also involved, resulting in a blocked circuit, with the red flag period allowing Coulthard to jump into the spare Williams. With that the order was reset to how it qualified, with Coulthard restored to pole, albeit in a car setup for Hill. He duly sprinted away at the restart to claim an early lead, while Berger got the jump on Schumacher into the first corner to claim second. Unfortunately for Coulthard his race was ended early on by a front wheel bearing failure, sending him into the barriers. That left Berger in the lead ahead of Schumacher and Hill, who were dicing hard over second as the leaders began to catch the backmarkers. Indeed, it would be as the pair came to lap Taki Inoue that their controversial clash occurred, with Hill getting out of shape after Inoue drifted into his path, resulting in him smacking into the back of Schumacher. The German racer blamed Hill, Hill blamed Inoue, and the stewards opted to half-agree with Schumacher, handing Hill a suspended one-race ban. Regardless, with the two title protagonists out it was now a Ferrari one-two, with Berger ahead of Jean Alesi, and no one around to challenge them. As such it was down to Ferrari themselves to ruin their chances of a first home win since 1988. Their first mistake was to ruin Berger's stop, resulting in the Austrian dropping behind teammate Alesi. He duly charged onto the back of the Alesi after the Frenchman's stop, only for a camera to fall off the Frenchman's car through Curva Grande and bounce right into Berger's path. The camera smashed the Austrian's suspension, and hence resulted in the #28 Ferrari flying into the gravel trap. Alesi's race would subsequently be ended by a wheel bearing failure, handing the lead, and ultimately victory, to Herbert in the #2 . Mika Häkkinen was next for after a lonely race, while Heinz-Harald Frentzen inherited his first podium finish late on, after the two s imploded with failures late on. Background Victory for Michael Schumacher ensured that the German ace extended his Championship lead, although he was on the verge of missing a race if he received another reprimand. Regardless, Schumacher left Spa with fifteen points in hand over Damon Hill in second, with the Brit realistically the only man capable of challenging the German. Behind, another pointless weekend for Jean Alesi saw him lose more ground in third, with David Coulthard and Johnny Herbert completing the top five. In the Constructors Championship had gained some breathing room, moving ten clear of at the head of the hunt. Those two were hence set to fight for the crown amongst themselves, with having slipped 27 points behind the leaders after another weekend of poor reliability. Behind, had moved into fourth ahead of , while and inched closer to the Irish squad. Entry list The full entry list for the is outlined below: Practice Overview Qualifying Friday Qualifying Saturday Qualifying Qualifying Results The full qualifying results for the are outlined below: *T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car to set their best time in that session. *'Bold' indicates a driver's best/qualifying time. Grid Race Report Results The full results for the are outlined below: *T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car. Milestones * Twentieth entry for David Coulthard.'1995 Italian GP', chicanef1.com, (Chicane F1, 2014), http://www.chicanef1.com/racetit.pl?year=1995&gp=Italian%20GP&r=1, (Accessed 10/08/2019) * Second career victory for Johnny Herbert.'12. Italy 1995', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1995/italie.aspx, (Accessed 10/08/2019) * secured their 23rd victory as a constructor. ** powered a car to a 69th win. * Heinz-Harald Frentzen scored his maiden podium finish. ** This was also the first podium for a chassis. * Maiden points finish for Mika Salo. Standings There was no change to the top of the Championship standings as a result of the Italian Grand Prix, with Schumacher and Hill still separated by fifteen points, and both holding a suspended one-race ban. Behind, however, there had been some significant changes, with Johnny Herbert having leapt up to third ahead of Jean Alesi and David Coulthard, with nine points covering the trio. Elsewhere, Mika Häkkinen had shot into the top ten behind Heinz-Harald Frentzen, with seventeen drivers on the board. In the Constructors Championship it had been a positive day for , who were the only top three team to score in Italy. Herbert's victory ensured that they established a twenty point lead over at the head of the field, while were now 37 points behind in third. Elsewhere, had been another big winner, moving into fourth ahead of , while slipped to seventh, albeit just seven points off of McLaren in fourth. Only point scoring drivers and constructors are shown. References Images and Videos: * References: Category:Grand Prix articles Category:1995 Grands Prix Category:Italian Grand Prix Category:Formula One races in Italy